


How We First Met

by devil



Category: Rayman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-19
Updated: 2013-05-19
Packaged: 2017-12-12 08:30:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/809480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/devil/pseuds/devil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A visit to a magic academy results in the Grand Minimus meeting a student that seems to be going through a hard time.</p><p>This takes place years and years ago, when Ales is still a student and has blonde hair. How he acts in this may seem questionable, but, while I believe he did his best to look positive and carefree, it became hard to keep that act up at times with the bullying he faced.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How We First Met

“Everyone, quiet. This will only take a few moments.”

The students all look to their teacher, silencing themselves, chatter and laughter dying out. They immediately notice that the man has brought someone with them, someone they quickly recognize as the Grand Minimus. A few murmurs escape them, voicing their surprise and confusion.

In return, Minimus simply grins at them, putting on a pleased face. On the inside, however, he was sighing. When he approved for a new advanced magic academy, the last thing he thought he would be doing was touring it eventually. However, his advisors pressed until he did.

Once it goes completely silent again, the teacher smiles, gesturing to the king. “I’m sure as you all know, this is the Grand Minimus, king of our land. After givng a very generous sum of money and other resources to our school, he’s come to visit us.”

After that, his attention turns toward the Grand Minimus. “As you can see, sir, these are some of the very best magic users in the land. And with our excellent schooling, they will be the best and able to serve you.”

“Yeah, except Ales,” someone snickers, and the rest of the students laugh along with them.

Minimus frowns ever so slightly at that, looking at the students. One of them, near the back of the room, away from everyone else, doesn’t join in on the laughter. Instead, he looks down, fingering the rim of his hat. Gold bangs cover his face, so the king can’t see his expression, though he’s sure it’s hurt.

“Now, now. No need for that,” the teacher purses his lips together in a thin line. The comment seems to have embarrassed and irritated him, though not because the students were picking on each other. “Ales is just a slow learner. He’ll improve, eventually.”

There’s another jeer of a ‘yeah right’ and some more giggling. Clicking his tongue, the teacher motions toward the door for Minimus to follow him. “If you will, sir. There are some other departments I think you’ll be interested in seeing.”

Looking back to the spot Ales was, Minimus frowns, only seeing his hat there now. Hesitantly, he follows after the other man, now wanting to get this all over with even quicker than he did before.

….

Sighing, Ales draws his knees up to his chest. Tears are running down his face, and he’s doing his best not to sob, instead trying to enjoy the scenery around him. This section of the school’s yard was nearly hidden, far back and surrounded by bushes and a few trees. One of Ales’ favorite things to do was sit under the largest tree and read, though after what happened in class, he felt too upset to do that.

“Where are you when I need you, Betilla,” he murmurs to himself. Betilla, his only friend, was the only thing that could make the constant bullying better. But being a nymph, she had important duties, and could rarely visit him. Before that, it was his cousin Andrew, who would help defend him, though he moved away a couple months back, and since then, the bullying got worse and worse.

He was used to cruel comments from other students, this was nothing new, it wasn’t even that bad compared to the usual things they said. This time though, they humiliated him in front of the king. It made him feel more useless than usual. The teacher didn’t do anything to defend him either, though he rarely did. The man never helped him, not even in class when he tried to learn.

Burying his face in his knees, he bites back a sob. All he wanted was to be a good magician, not a great one, he gave up on that dream long ago. It was embarrassing, not only was he the only one in his family to be horrible at magic, but using magic is what the God Polokus created people like him for. But nothing he did ever seemed to help. It just got him made fun of, beat up, and shunned by others.

A snap of a branch gets his attention, head shooting up. Someone was walking this way. Standing up, he straightens himself up, not wanting anyone to see him like this, as it would only give them more reasons to tease him. Quickly, he turns and starts to walk away, only to bump right into the Grand Minimus.  
The collision knocks his hat off, and it hits the ground. Seeing who he bumped into has him too afraid to pick it up, despite it being one of his most valuable possessions.

“Uhm, I—I…” he stutters and looks around. First he was embarrassed in front of the man, now he was embarrassing himself in front of him.

“Sorry,” he manages to choke out, then steps past the man, wanting to get away as fast as possible. Before he’s able to, Minimus grabs onto his arm, getting a small whimper out of Ales. Whipping around, Ales tries to pull his arm away, though he stops when he sees the king holding his hat out to him.

“I think you dropped this,” Minimus smiles warmly in an attempt to calm him down, and lets go of him. Looking over him, Minimus takes note of the other’s cheeks, wet and red, and almost frowns. For Ales’ sake, though, he tries to be friendlier, grinning now instead. “Ales was it?”

Confused for a moment, Ales just stares before slowly nodding and taking the hat. “Yes, that is my name. Thank you.”  
Giving a nod of thanks, he forces and smile and turns to leave again, starting to walk away.

“Do they always treat you like that?”  
The question stops him in his tracks, his entire body tensing up visibly. It almost makes Minimus feel rude for asking him that, especially since the other stays silent for so long.

“Yes…” Ales eventually speaks up, voice quiet. “They have good reason to. I’m the worst student here. Even a child just learning of their abilities could do better than me. Magic is wasted on me.”

Still turned away from him, Ales looks down to his hat, nervously touching its edges again. He didn’t mean to say all of that, it sort of all just came out on its own. Now, he was waiting for the king to laugh at him too, like everyone else did.

“That’s too bad. You seem like such a bright man, with such good potential.”  
Shocked to hear that, Ales turns back to him, glancing suspiciously at the king’s still, grinning friendly face. “I don’t need your pity.”

“It’s not pity,” Minimus shrugs. For whatever reason, he was feeling determined to help cheer the other up. The poor guy seemed like he could use a friend. “Just keep trying and I’m sure you can be great.”

A dark blush pops up on Ales’ face and he’s left speechless, not used to compliments. Part of him wonders if the king is just teasing him, but his words are said so honestly…

In the distance, a voice calls out the Grand Minimus’ name, obviously in search of him.

“I gotta go,” Minimus has to keep from sighing and rolling his eyes, knowing whatever this was was work related. Patting Ales on the back, he tries to keep him motivated before he leaves. “I’m glad to see you stopped crying. You have such a lovely smile.”

That last remark surprises Ales. Fingers darting to his lips, he touches them, feeling what was indeed a smile on his face, one he didn’t even know he was giving and for the first time in a long time, he felt happy.


End file.
